During skating, whether it be in-line or on ice, propulsion is achieved most effectively when the entire ground-engaging base, such as all of the wheels or the entire blade, of the skate in contact with the ground surface on which the skater is propelled. With the entire ground-engaging base of the skate in contact with the ground, the skater's leg enjoys a stability that allows it to drive with virtually unlimited force with little or no effort required for stabilizing the skate.
However, the experienced skater will be aware that it is substantially impossible for the skater to keep the entire ground-engaging base of the skate in contact with the ground surface over the entire skating stroke. Doing so is particularly problematic during the final phase of leg extension. As the leg enters its final stage, the rear wheels of the skate or the rear portion of the skate blade inevitably will follow the skater's heel in lifting off of the ground surface. With this, since the wheels or the blade are fixed in position relative to the skater's foot, only the foremost wheel or blade portion remains in contact with the ground. Consequently, it becomes the skater's only means of applying a driving force to the ground and stabilizing the skater's leg. Disadvantageously, skaters are thus unable to transmit all available energy from their legs to the ground surface.
Ice skates have been disclosed with blades having convex edges so that an increased portion of the blade will have contact with the ice surface at the end of the skating stroke. Other ice skates have been developed that allow a pivoting of the skate blade relative to the skate boot whereby the skate blade exhibits improved contact with the ice surface over final phase of leg extension. As one knowledgeable regarding the sport of speed skating will be well aware, this construction has proven to be a decided advantage over prior art fixed blade constructions.
The present inventor has appreciated that attempting to produce a convex blade profile with in-line skate wheels would require superfluous weight in wheels that would have only relatively minimal contact with the ground and that attempting to provide an in-line skate with an all-wheel pivoting blade structure has proven to be unacceptable due to vibrations, undesirable weight and leg stress, and unmanageably complex mechanical requirements. With these things in mind and with his own U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,088, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference, the inventor has provided an advance in the art of in-line skates by disclosing an in-line skate construction wherein a carriage frame with a plurality of wheels is pivotally coupled to a skate body adjacent to an anterior or forward end of the skate body while a group of one or more fixed wheels is coupled to the skate body.
By employing such an arrangement, the skater can enjoy increased stability and an improved ability to impart propulsive force. With this, more efficient and comfortable skating can be achieved. Even further, in his U.S. application Ser. No. 09/699,149, which is also incorporated herein by reference, the present inventor disclosed and protected, among other things, a plurality of methods and arrangements for manipulating the location of an effective pivot axis that is physically displaced from a pivoting mechanism. Under such embodiments of the invention, the vertical and horizontal locations of the effective pivot axis can be controlled to produce a most efficient skating stroke.
It has nonetheless become apparent to the present inventor that the foregoing concepts and still further developments can find application relative to skates designed for use on ice and also relative to in-line skates.